Private investors wooed for mega food parks

In a bid to immensely involve the farmers and the retailers in the supply chain the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is looking at setting up mega food parks and cold storage chains. It is also looking at setting up research and development divisions on the same line reports HT Correspondent.

In a bid to immensely involve the farmers and the retailers in the supply chain the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is looking at setting up mega food parks and cold storage chains. It is also looking at setting up research and development divisions on the same line. In this context the government is anticipating an investment of Rs 1 lakh crore in the food processing industry over the next five years.

On the sidelines of National Retail Summit 2010, a summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industries, Subodh Kant Sahai, Union Minister for Food Processing Industries, said, “We are looking at settting up at least 30 mega food parks across the country. It will be a public-private partnership wherein the private sector and financial institutions will hold the majority stake.”

“The retail sector in India saw tremendous growth in the last five years. Even then the penetration is much lower. The need of the hour is to work out a magic formula between the retailers and the government and bring out forward looking policies,” the minister said emphasising on the need to address the woes of the retail industry.